Bobo's World

"Mark Foley takes some time to interact with our children."

(Scroll down a couple photos, I decided to edit out the children.)

aaaiieeeee . . .

-Desi

"You're Fired"

ON WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2004, eight days after the president he served was elected to a second term, Secretary of State Colin Powell received a telephone call from the White House at his State Department office. The caller was not President Bush but Chief of Staff Andrew Card, and he got right to the point.

"The president would like to make a change," Card said, using a time-honored formulation that avoided the words "resign" or "fire." He noted briskly that there had been some discussion of having Powell remain until after Iraqi elections scheduled for the end of January, but that the president had decided to take care of all Cabinet changes sooner rather than later. Bush wanted Powell's resignation letter dated two days hence, on Friday, November 12, Card said, although the White House expected him to stay at the State Department until his successor was confirmed by the Senate.

I'm so confused. What's all the bullshit about how Bush couldn't possibly get rid of that idiot Rumsfeld because he's such a loyal sob? How could . . . ah . . .
























I guess she prolly does look better in a strapless evening gown than Powell must.

-Desi

Update: Actually, this report from the NYT's is the more likely scenario for the Powell termination:

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 — Colin L. Powell, in his last face-to-face meeting with President Bush before stepping down as secretary of state in January 2005, tried to impress upon him one last time the dangers he saw the United States facing in Iraq, according to a new Powell biography.

The insurgency was growing and the country was spiraling into sectarian bloodshed, Mr. Powell warned. Elections in Iraq would not solve the problems, and the president’s ability to act decisively was being crippled by divisions within his own administration, according to the account in “Soldier: The Life of Colin Powell” (Knopf, 2006) by Karen DeYoung, an associate editor at The Washington Post. Mr. Bush appeared disengaged, the book says, and brushed off Mr. Powell’s complaints about dysfunction in his government.

You just can't try to get between a man and his mission from the voices in his head.

Nouvelle vague: Dance with Me

Nouvelle Vague: Dance with Me; Bande A part

-Desi

Look, up in the sky, is it a bird, or a plane? No . . . it's a

Flying ferret!


-Desi

Ding, Ding, Ding!

They knew, and they did nothing. Now how much longer before the obvious becomes accepted truth -- or at the least acceptable conversation -- within even the blogosphere, let alone the msm?

-Desi

Uh oh.

Via RollCall:


National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Reynolds (N.Y.) issued a statement Saturday in which he said that he had informed Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) of allegations of improper contacts between then-Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) and at least one former male page, contradicting earlier statements from Hastert.


GOP sources said Reynolds told Hastert earlier in 2006, shortly after the February GOP leadership elections. Hastert's response to Reynolds' warning remains unclear.


Hastert's staff insisted Friday night that he was not told of the Foley allegations and are scrambling to respond to Reynolds' statement.



Ney, DeLay, Cunningham, Foley, is Denny next? Crikey, we may well win in November through sheer attrition.

-Desi

Heh

Bush used his weekly radio address to hit back at critics who cited the newly declassified National Intelligence Estimate as evidence the Iraq war has worsened the terrorism threat. He said early leaks about it created "a lot of misimpressions about the document's conclusions."

He can't even get his own talking points right.

-Desi

What a surprise

Just as details surrounding Jack Abramoff's White House connections begin to come to light:

WASHINGTON — The bribery investigation involving influence-peddler Jack Abramoff may have been stymied by a federal judge in Florida just as prosecutors began asking questions about the lobbyist's ties to the White House.

U.S. District Judge Paul Huck refused to delay Abramoff's prison sentence for fraud charges Thursday, rejecting a plea by the Justice Department's top corruption prosecutor, who said Abramoff was providing information about officials whose names hadn't yet surfaced in the case.


How long do you think Jack will last in prison now that he's rolling on the White House?

-Desi

"We did not lie, we timed our speeches well."

Pony Blow:

The allegation is contained in a new book by the veteran U.S. journalist Bob Woodward, who claimed there was an attack every 15 minutes against U.S.-led forces in Iraq.

White House spokesman Tony Snow said nobody had tried to mislead anyone about the levels of violence, and that the number of attacks fluctuated.



If this administration had put the same amount of effort it puts into manipulating the truth at any given moment into anything productive, oh hell, like that would happen.

-Desi

Life is Like a Fruit Basket

Whereas Mr. Woodward has tended in the past to stand apart from his narrative, rarely pausing to analyze or assess the copious material he has gathered, he is more of an active agent in this volume — perhaps in a kind of belated mea culpa for his earlier positive portrayals of the administration. In particular, he inserts himself into interviews with Mr. Rumsfeld — clearly annoyed, even appalled, by the Pentagon chief’s cavalier language and reluctance to assume responsibility for his department’s failures.

Mr. Woodward reports that when he told Mr. Rumsfeld that the number of insurgent attacks was going up, the defense secretary replied that they’re now “categorizing more things as attacks.” Mr. Woodward quotes Mr. Rumsfeld as saying, “A random round can be an attack and all the way up to killing 50 people someplace. So you’ve got a whole fruit bowl of different things — a banana and an apple and an orange.”


Whereas we see the tortured bodies of Iraqi civilians, Rummy sees fruitbaskets with bows on top. I would really like to see an MRI of this guy's brain, because frankly, I suspect his looks something like swiss cheese . . . to go with his fruits.

-Desi

You go to the polls with the numbers you've got, not the ones you'd like to have

Rasmussen:

The President's job approval among American adults fell a point today to 39% making it the first drop below 40% since early August. Fifty-eight percent (58%) disapprove of the way the President is performing his job.


I keep telling people there *is no bounce* but do the journamalists get it? Nooo . . .

-Desi

The Bush Years: "Me and My Dad"

[Linda Coan O'Kresik for The New York Times]

Bob Dylan: Masters of War

Tahiti 80: Changes

Tahiti 80: "Fosbury" Limited Edition


-Desi

What does a Librarian wear to a Ball? Answer: Old Library Drapes

President Bush, right, and first lady Laura Bush attend the 2006 National Book Festival Gala at the Library of Congress on Friday, Sept. 29, 2006 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

"Operation Return to Sender"

Please read this and spread the word, contact your reps, anything you can possibly do to help. The arrest, detention, and treatment of a long-term Ukrainian legal resident alien in Florida who came to the U.S. and was raised with Larisa Alexandrovna of RawStory is at issue:


Maryanovsky claims that she is currently being held in a jail cell with an accused murderer. Last week she was in a cell with five other people and only two beds, so she slept on a “urine-laden cement floor.”

To make matters more disheartening, Maryanovsky takes medication for heart arrhythmia and high blood pressure. She confided to her family and friends that prison personnel mockingly refused to give her medication, telling her, “When you have a heart attack, then we’ll help you.”

One friend, Lauren, who wished to keep her last name private, said that she has visited Maryanovsky twice, and her ankles and extremities are swelling. “[She] can go into heart failure,” Lauren told RAW STORY. According to family members, her blood pressure hit 220/110, and the family obtained a doctor’s letter to present to immigration authorities, but she was still apparently not being given her medication.

Maryanovsky is scheduled soon to be transferred to Krome Detention Center, outside Miami, according to Sedikov. Two years ago, Krome garnered much press attention when an 81-year old Haitian Baptist minister, Joseph Dantica, died while being detained there after seeking asylum. He fell ill during his hearing, after, like Maryanovsky, requesting medication for high blood pressure. Officials contend that he died of pancreatitis and deny responsibility for his death.

Ray Del Papa of the South Florida Peace and Justice Network – a coalition that includes representatives from such groups as the Quakers, Pax Christi, Buddhist Peace Fellowship, Jewish Arab Defense Association, Haiti Solidarity, and many others – told RAW STORY that he sees an incongruity in the arrest and detention of such persons as Maryanovsky or Dantica while known terrorists, such as Luis Possada Carriles, Orlando Bosch, and Virgilio Paz Romero, are allowed to remain free in the U.S., despite their criminal records.


Generally when you hear of ICE or the INS detaining someone in Florida, it is someone of hispanic descent. It's very curious that the INS has picked up a Ukranian Jew who has lived in the states for over 30 years. None of us can sit idly by and allow this to happen to Bella, because if this can be done to her, what is to stop the government from 'confusing' any of us with someone else, 'losing' our file and sending us off to wherever they please?

Please, particularly if you are a Florida resident, contact your reps and seek their help for Bella.

-Desi

Good news, Bad news

WASHINGTON - Rep. Mark Foley, R-Fla., resigned from Congress on Friday, effective immediately, in the wake of questions about e-mails he wrote a former male page.

"I am deeply sorry and I apologize for letting down my family and the people of Florida I have had the privilege to represent," he said in a statement issued by his office.

The two-sentence statement did not refer to the e-mails and gave no reason for Foley's decision to abruptly abandon a flourishing career in Congress.


On the one hand, another repug out of Congress. On the other, he'll have more time to pursue young boys.

-Desi

~Update~OMG, it's even worse than he's a perv, graphic emails with boys, and enabled by Dennis Hastert. AmericaBlog has the details.

jeebus

I blinked today . . .


-Desi

Protesters from the American Friends Service Committee pose as Iraq war victims as they stage a die-in in Chicago's Federal Plaza September 21, 2006.
[REUTERS/JOHN GRESS]

The Truth, and then the Spin

NEW YORK, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Billionaire financier George Soros said on Thursday the war in Iraq has undermined U.S. leadership in the world, mocking the concept that peace and democracy could be achieved through war.

"The idea that you can introduce democracy via military force is a non-starter," Soros told a gathering at the Council on Foreign Relations. "We have lost the moral high ground."

The currency arbitrageur-turned-philanthropist donated millions of dollars to Democrats in the 2004 presidential election in an unsuccessful effort to defeat President George W. Bush. More generally, he has used his influence and money to speak out on key political issues.

Soros, who is promoting a book lambasting U.S. Middle East policy, said the resentment generated in the Arab world by the bloody conflict in Iraq more than offsets any possible benefits gleaned from efforts to open the country's political process.

Right-wing rag spins the interview into:

ANTI-W. $OROS: I QUIT POLITICS


George Soros recently was interviewed recently by John Byrne, Editor of Raw Story. It was a very interesting piece, as for a man with such a "liberal" reputation, his thoughts on the Israeli-Palestinian-Lebanon conflict strike me as very right-wing, conservative in nature.


-Desi

Winning friends and influencing people.

100 Dead in Iraq on Thursday;
Including 60 Bodies found in Baghdad

Reuters reports almost 40 persons killed in political violence as a result of Iraq's civil war on Thursday. Guerrillas set off several bomb attacks and fired mortars inside Baghdad, accounting for a number of the deaths.

In addition, Police found 60 bodies in various parts of Baghdad, showing signs of torture. They were victims of Sunni-Shiite sectarian reprisal killings. The inability of the current "Forward Together" campaign by the US and Iraqi militaries in Baghdad to deter this widespread murder and lawlessness suggests that the problem is long-term and intractable now.

The US military is complaining that the government of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki is impeding their efforts to take on the Shiite militias that are behind many of these death squad attacks. Al-Maliki came to power with the support of the Sadr Movement and the Mahdi Army, which are prime suspects in the deaths of Sunni Arabs. The US is convinced that the Mahdi Army and the Badr Corps, both Shiite militias are behind a lot of the "war of the corpses" in Baghdad.

Two thirds of Americans say that Iraq is in civil war. Nearly 40 percent of the public said that they did not have a clear idea why the US was in Iraq in the first place.

A new University of Maryland poll found that 71 percent of Iraqis want US troops out by September, 2007. Some 60 percent of Iraqis support attacks on US troops. Since the Sunni Arabs are about 20 percent of the populations, and since the Kurds are very positive toward the US, I figure that this poll result means that the other 40% of Iraqis who support attacks on US troops are Shiites. Shiites make up around 60 percent of the Iraqi population, which means that two-thirds of Shiites support attacks on Americans!

Another recent poll found that 90 percent of Iraqis say that they would not want an American for a neighbor.

This is a complete and total failure. Why the fuck would you 'stay the course' on a mission that clearly has not worked, and not only are you still fighting terrorists, but the very people you claim to have gone in to liberate profoundly hate you because you have made their lives worse than they were under the thumb of a murderous dictator?

-Desi

Smirking . . . how it annoys me.

President George W. Bush looks out from his limousine as he arrives at the steps of Air Force One at Andrews Air Force base near Washington, September 28, 2006. (Jason Reed/Reuters)

Bounty Hunters

LONDON (Reuters) - Pakistan has abducted hundreds of people as part of the U.S-led war on terror, often secretly holding them for months while they are interrogated, the human rights group Amnesty International said on Friday.

Some suspects were held in Pakistani interrogation centers, but many were handed over to U.S. custody and held in Guantanamo Bay, Bagram Airbase or other secret detention facilities, the group said in a report on "enforced disappearances in the war on terror".

In many cases, U.S. agents paid a bounty of $5,000 to those, usually intelligence agents, who simply declared people terrorists, seized them and handed them over for interrogation with no legal process, Amnesty said.

"Enforced disappearances were almost unheard of in Pakistan before the start of the U.S-led war on terror -- now they are a growing phenomenon, spreading beyond terror suspects," Amnesty researcher Angelika Pathak said.

"The Pakistani government must set up a central register of detainees and publish regular lists of all recognized places of detention so that in future nobody can be secretly imprisoned and face the risks of torture," she added.

The rights group said the clandestine nature of the war on terror made it impossible to know exactly how many people had been forcibly 'disappeared' and tortured or illegally executed, but the number must run into hundreds.


It's difficult to know what to say about the horrors that Bush has helped perpetuate across the globe during his time in office. However, to those who defend torture and even executions of these people -- with no trials -- ask yourself, what do you think a terrorist organization is going to do to the US the next time they find an opportunity to attack? Just recently in Iraq, the 'opportunity' provided itself to capture two US soldiers and their burned bodies were later recovered. I doubt those who commit especially vicious attacks will see any reason to cease these tactics.

I also can't begin to verbalize how horrific the thought of my tax dollars being used as incentives to pluck people off the streets of any country to do unspeakable things to them -- and possibly kill them -- when they may well be innocent people just going about their lives.

If there's a Hell, (not Hell, MI) the devil is learning some new tactics to use on the people that will be there with him eventually.


-Desi

Heckuva job, Congress

Documents from Department of Defense and Department of Navy to the ACLU under the FOIA:


Investigation into death of Awayed Wanas Jabar, Detainee 132. Date of death: April 19. 2004. Jabar was thought to be preparing to become a martyr because of his attire and dyed hands. Jabar was restrained after he made several attempts to escape in which he was successful in untying himself. Guards called him “Houdini” because of his ability to get free. During one escape he threw himself out of a window on the 1 st floor and sustained a head injury. A doctor was called who examined him and said he was OK. Jabar was then tied to a window with his back to the window, arms stretched apart, with his legs tied to the bars of the window and a strap of engineer tape to his midsection. “His position resembled that of a person who had been crucified.” (1148). Jabar was in this position for at least an hour and a half. A HET1 member who visited the facility said that “the detainee appeared to be exhausted, with his entire bodyweight appearing to be supported by the strap around his midsection. The HET member indicated that the strap was “pushing back, almost touching his spine.'” The HET member instructed to cut the waist strap. He died about 15 minutes later. A guard witnessed Jabar take several deep breaths, exhale deeply, and cease breathing. (1149). The exact cause of death is unknown because the body was released to Iraqi personnel at their request in order to ensure burial by sundown on the day of death. Uncertain whether the death was due to the head injury from falling from the window or asphyxia. There was also some evidence that he had been made to stand a long time. Investigation concluded that “There is no evidence that his death was the result of any assault, pummeling or any other abuse once he was in our custody. The guards would have been within their authority to shoot him or at least one of the escape attempts. Whole the changes to guard routines at [redacted] holding area are appropriate, none of them in themselves would have prevented the death of an enemy intent on dying in our hands.”


"Gray" areas:

During a raid on three target houses, Marines found several weapons caches. While interrogating “Saed” on contents of cache, ING personnel slapped him, shot at him with AK-47, struck him with both butt and barrel of rifle approximately 10-20 times within 30 minutes. He was taken with the other detainees to Delta Company ING Headquarters where he was seen and treated for a broken arm/wrist, broken nose, cracked ribs, and contusions and abrasions on arms, chest and legs. Beaten by ING personnel while being interrogated at his house. Detainee denied that Americans were involved but that they were close by and could see what was happening. Marine says that he saw this and that ING “took the boots to him.” (1190). Recommends issuing further guidance on handling of detainees while participating in joint operations with ISF. One Marine states “the issue of ING beating prisoners has come up before. They'll get prisoners from ING who've been beaten. Once this guy was shot in the leg. … Could have called Higher. Wasn't sure what to do. Their country … they didn't interrogate him. “It is known that ING/HILLA SWAT have beaten detainees. Never witnessed it. Gray area where Iraqis do things against other Iraqis.” (1199). A statement describes beating of “Detainee 1”: “After the caches were discovered the MEU forces turned [redacted] over to three ING members located in [redacted] orchard. One member of the ING held [redacted] while two other members beat him. One man, who all of the ING members referred to as “sir”, beat [redacted] with an “iron rod”. [Redacted] was struck in his head, left arm, legs, back with the rod and was hit and kicked in the face by the other man. There were US soldiers five to two meters away while [redacted] was being beat by the three ING members.” (1222). Detainee 2: “[Redacted] was making “sounds of pain” while being beat by the ING. [Redacted] was asked, “how many Iraqi police have you killed?” while being beat.” ING member indicated to American that he had struck detainee with a rifle. (1222). American states that he “immediately notified [redacted] of the incident.” Beating lasted approximately 30 minutes.


One of those incidents resembling the hazings at those quirky "clubs" repubs belong to:

Authorities were told of an alleged abuse of a detainee on 04/16/2004, from a person serving as [redacted] in support of the HET Detachment for Task Force 2/2. The allegation is that a member of the guard force at the Detention Facility shocked a detainee using a power cord on 04/13/2004. [Redacted] identified the time of the incident as being after the mortar attack on the base at 10.50 hours. [Redacted] related that he overheard some Marines discussing how they were going to attach wires to a cage to prevent a detainee from constantly grabbing the bars and "shock that mother fucker". [Redacted] explained that he saw [redacted] attempt to shock the detainee (who was wearing a sandbag over his head per standard operating procedure)...place one wire to the right chest and the other to the upper back of the detainee, electrocuting him. The Marines laughed and placed the detainee back into his cage. [Redacted] stated that prior to the incident, when asked about the wires, [redacted] replied "I don't give a fuck". As the detainee passed, [redacted] stated that he touched the wires to the lower arm of the detainee, shocking him...before placing him in his cell. During their interviews [redacted] and [redacted] relate the same basic facts but contradict a couple of points, such as who was present for the incident. During his interview [redacted] admitted to electrocuting the detainee...it was an "impulsive decision without premeditation that he now regrets". [Redacted] reported hearing someone state "It worked!"


And this was just a little fun:

Record of Trial of Corporal Scott A Burton, of the 81mm Mortar Platoon, Weapons Company, 3rd Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment. He was tried at Camp Pendleton, CA on 23 March and 2, 14-17 June 2004. "On or about 1 June 2003 and until on or about 6 July 2003" Burton conspired with Corporal Jeffery S. Case to use a fire extinguisher "to spray its contents in the face and body of an Iraqi detainee" who did not have a weapon and was "unthreatening". He also locked detainees in an abandonned tank and forced detainees to kneel in front of fighting holes whilse he fired a round next to a detainee's head, described by one witness as a "mock execution". He pleaded Not Guilty to all charges. A witness states that "Corporal Burton thought spraying the Iraqi was funny because he was laughing". Burton was sentenced to forfeit $156 pay per month for 6 months, to perform hard labor without confinement for 1 month and to be reduced to pay grade E-3. The papers include crude maps of the immediate area when the incidents took place, showing the location of Iraqis in relation to the trucks, Burton and the fire extinguisher. Scott A Burton's statement is also present in the papers, in which he claims a sense of "remorse and regret". He claims not to have meant to harm anyone, then states "but I guess mentally it did". The last papers are a powerpoint presentation titled "Anger and Frustration", numbered with 12 pages but only the first two pages are present.


After today's 'compromise' on Bush's Operation Torture an Arab[yes, I made that up] if I understand the details correctly, none of the above acts will be performed or witnessed by any US military personnel without a smile on their face, and the blessings of congress.

-Desi

Caption this.

Grey Lady Down

Hall of Shame.

-Desi

2710

The Toll.


-Desi

Tegan and Sara: I Hear Noises

"If it was You"



-Desi

Iran

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A majority of Americans want the United States to increase diplomatic efforts over Iran's nuclear ambitions, while 70 percent oppose the use of U.S. troops to thwart Iran, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll released on Thursday.


If that's how you feel, America, you better pick up some gotdamn phones and call your reps.



-Desi

For Posterity

Fearless Leader. :)

-Desi

Ugh

"Dems" for Joe:


Democratic Congressional leaders may be keeping their distance from Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) since he opted to seek re-election as an Independent, but a group of more than 50 former Senators, House Members and Clinton administration officials will proudly announce the creation of “Dems for Joe” today.

I think "former" is the key word here, and let's also hope that any support coming out of the Clinton administration will do for Joe what Bill's endorsement before the primary accomplished.

-Desi

Animation

Madame Butterfly


-Desi

Keeping Secrets

NYT's Editorial Board interview with Condi:


SECRETARY RICE: I think that it has made other countries and, in some cases, other entities which have dealt with us, wonder about our reliability in keeping information confidential. I do. You know, it’s fine to say we ought to have an open debate about these things. You know, there are things that you keep confidential at the New York Times. There are.

QUESTION: There are?

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah, I would hope so. I would --

QUESTION: We try. (Laughter.)

SECRETARY RICE: I would assume – no, I assume so.

QUESTION: What are they? Our ability to keep a secret is considerably --

SECRETARY RICE: Yeah, but I assume in your board rooms that there are things that you keep confidential, right?

QUESTION: I don’t get to go to the board room.

SECRETARY RICE: I assume that there are – there is information that corporations keep confidential; it’s in their boardrooms. But somehow, when it’s the United States Government that is dealing with life and death, war and peace matters, allies who are putting their lives on the line, allies who have different political structures than we do and different obligations than we do, we’re not supposed to keep anything confidential. And so I --

QUESTION: Well, that’s taking it to extremes.

SECRETARY RICE: No.

QUESTION: And we – this paper has kept some of your secrets for you, too.

SECRETARY RICE: I understand that and I appreciate that. But I think that when it comes to – you know, I’m speaking to the leaks problem. I know this is a major, major issue in the journalistic community. But I can tell you from the point of view of somebody who has to (inaudible) security (inaudible), it’s a problem.

I can’t tell you how many times people will say to me, my counterparts or, you know, other counterparts, "Well, you know, I really don’t know if we should have this conversation because I don’t know when it’s going to be exposed." That’s a problem. So you asked me if it was a problem and yeah, it’s a problem.

QUESTION: But I asked you if it has tangibly diminished your ability to fight the war on terror.

SECRETARY RICE: I think it has tangibly made it harder to have full-scale cooperation and I think the jury is still not out about how willing others will be to cooperate with us on sensitive and difficult issues. I do think that the jury’s still out on that and in some cases, I think it’s made it more difficult.

'Liberal' media my ass.

-Desi

Bobo's World

AUGUSTA, Ga. — Pastor Marty Baker preaches that the Bible is the eternal and inviolate word of God. On other church matters, he's willing to change with the times.

Jeans are welcome at Stevens Creek Community Church, the 1,100-member evangelical congregation Baker founded 19 years ago. Sermons are available as podcasts, and the electric house band has been known to cover Aerosmith's "Dream On." A recent men's fellowship breakfast was devoted to discussing the spiritual wages of lunching at Hooters.

It is a bid for relevance in a nation charmed by pop culture and consumerism, and it is not an uncommon one. But Baker has waded further into the 21st century than most fishers of American souls, as evidenced one Wednesday night when churchgoer Josh Marshall stepped up to a curious machine in the church lobby.

It was one of Stevens Creek's three "Giving Kiosks": a sleek black pedestal topped with a computer screen, numeric keypad and magnetic-strip reader. Prompted by the on-screen instructions, Marshall performed a ritual more common in quickie marts than a house of God: He pulled out a bank card, swiped it and punched in some numbers.

The machine spat out a receipt. Marshall's $400 donation was routed to church coffers before he had found his seat for evening worship.

"I paid for gas today with a card, and got lunch with one," said Marshall, 30. "This is really no different."

Baker came up with the kiosk idea a couple of years ago. He had just kicked off a $3-million building drive, but noticed that few people seemed to keep cash in their wallet anymore for the collection bag.

So he began studying the electronic payment business. He designed his machine with the help of a computer programmer who attends Stevens Creek, and found ATM companies willing to assemble it for him. In early 2005, he introduced the first machine at his church.

Since then, kiosk giving has gradually gained acceptance among his upper-middle-class flock. The three kiosks are expected to take in between $200,000 and $240,000 this year — about 15% of the church's total donations.

"It's truly like an ATM for Jesus," Baker said.

I'm more curious about how the debate over "Hooters" turned out . . . WWJD?

-Desi

The Bush Legacy

BAGHDAD — Senior U.S. military officials have stepped up complaints that Iraq's Shiite-led government is thwarting efforts to go after Shiite death squads blamed in the execution-style killings of Sunni Arabs in neighborhoods across this capital.

Although deadly Sunni Arab rebel attacks remain frequent in Baghdad, U.S. officials, including Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad, say death squads affiliated with Shiite militias have become the main factors ratcheting up the capital's death toll from sectarian killings.

Civilian deaths in Baghdad during July and August totaled more than 5,100, according to United Nations figures, and most were caused by the sectarian strife.

However, the 8,000 U.S. troops sent to Baghdad in recent weeks to restore order have been largely prevented from confronting those militias, many of which have ties to Iraqi government officials.

Does this mean that the only 'terrorists' we're killing/imprisoning in Iraq are Sunni, as they aren't part of the cruel and murderous bunch of thugs Bush helped put in power in Iraq?

This is no war on terror, it's an ethnic cleansing that's come about only because our military doesn't have the leadership(aka brains)to confront the Iraqi troops that they themselves have trained and installed. Oh, and what is all the talk of we need more of our troops to train the sunsabitches? They seem to have picked up on torture and killing real quick, and somehow are managing to hold off the entire US military in Iraq from interfering with their 'activities.'

Don't forget, this is just the rosey picture that our 'liberal' media is painting for us!

-Desi

Letters from the Front

Dear Mom and Dad,

Please send toilet paper, and bullets.

Love,

Your Son

P.S.
Don't worry, everything here is fine.




-Desi

Good Morning, Vietnam!

BAGHDAD, Iraq - The bodies of 40 men who were shot and had their hands and feet bound have been found in the capital over the past 24 hours, police said Thursday.

All the victims showed signs of torture, police Lt. Thayer Mahmoud said. They were dumped in several neighborhoods in both eastern and western Baghdad, he said.

The top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, on Wednesday said murders and executions are currently the main cause of civilian deaths in Baghdad.

Much of the violence has been attributed to death squads, many of which are thought to be offshoots of mainly Shiite militias.

Also Thursday, two Iraqi soldiers were killed and 10 others were injured in suicide car bombing in part of Baghdad where American and Iraqi troops had just conducted a security sweep.

The car slammed into a checkpoint in the northeastern neighborhood of Shaab, a neighborhood in northeastern Baghdad that had just been cleared by troops taking part in Operation Together Forward.

The top U.S. military spokesman in Iraq, Maj. Gen. William B. Caldwell, says violence in the capital has spiked with the onset of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which officially began on Monday, and that suicide attacks were at their highest level ever.

"This has been a tough week," he said.

In other violence, a child was killed in the southern Baghdad neighborhood of Dora when a mortar shell landed on a house, police said.


Attempting to figure out what sort of twisted war of attrition logic Rummy could possibly be attempting to use here, and it seems that possibly by just staying the course, it's hoped that eventually we'll have all the Iraqi civilians killed off in due time. Freedom, indeed.

-Desi

Word of the Day

pedestrian


Main Entry: 2pedestrian
Function: noun
: a person going on foot : WALKER



-Desi

Tea Time

Musharraf joins Jon Stewart for tea and twinkies.


-Desi

Torture

Even Lady Liberty is ashamed to be standing out there in the bay with that torch tonight.

-Desi

Heh

Atrios has another installment of Simple answers to Simple Questions.


-Desi

Stay the Course

A second report confirms the obvious:

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - A U.N. report released on Wednesday said the Iraq war provided al Qaeda with a training center and recruits, reinforcing a U.S. intelligence study blaming the conflict for a surge in Islamic extremism.

The report by terrorism experts working for the U.N. Security Council said al Qaeda was playing a central role in the fighting in Iraq as well as inspiring a Taliban resurgence in Afghanistan, several hundred miles (km) away.

"New explosive devices are now used in Afghanistan within a month of their first appearing in Iraq," said the report. "And while the Taliban have not been found fighting outside Afghanistan/Pakistan, there have been reports of them training in both Iraq and Somalia."

Al Qaeda, it said, "has gained by continuing to play a central role in the fighting (in Iraq) and in encouraging the growth of sectarian violence, and Iraq has provided many recruits and an excellent training ground," it said.

The report said that al Qaeda's influence may soon wane in Iraq, citing some fighters' complaints that they were unhappy to learn upon arriving in the country that they would have to kill fellow Muslims rather than foreign fighters or could serve their cause only as suicide bombers.

The report was prepared by a team of experts set up to monitor the effectiveness of Security Council sanctions imposed on the Taliban and al Qaeda shortly after the September 11 attacks on the United States.


Staying the Course is no doubt a source of great amusement for bin Laden and associates. In one fell swoop, Bush has tied up and drained our military, depleted national funds, provided al qaeda training grounds, fresh recruits, as well as keeping the nation occupied while the Taliban has regained power in Afghanistan, and terrorists across the globe have no doubt closely watched while we're distracted. Waiting . . .

-Desi

Sean Lennon: Friendly Fire

"Friendly Fire"


-Desi

Tweety and Bugman Jr.

Chris Matthews: “So Saddam Hussein was in league with the al Qaeda group?”

John Boehner: “He was providing cover for them, yes.”


I guess he didn't read the Senate Intelligence Committee report.
[pdf]Prolly gets his news from Fox.

I'll post(or link) to the full transcript when it becomes available.)

-Desi

How will History judge Us?

Stop the genocide, Save Darfur.


-Desi

You go to war with the Pentagon you've got.

Reuters urged the U.S. military on Sunday to investigate the killing of one of its journalists by American troops in Baghdad a year ago.

An independent inquiry commissioned by Reuters concluded that the soldiers’ shooting of television soundman Waleed Khaled on Aug. 28 last year appeared "unlawful".

But the Pentagon has failed to respond to requests to review the local commander’s ruling, which said the firing of shots at the car was "appropriate".

In April, Reuters gave the U.S. Defense Department the report, which found the soldiers’ own evidence did not support the commander’s conclusion.

The report also criticised the military for "losing" vital video footage of the incident shot by the Reuters cameraman who was Khaled’s passenger. He was wounded and then arrested by troops.

"The Defense Department has ignored the independent report which concluded that U.S. soldiers breached their rules of engagement and the shooting of Waleed was prima facie unlawful," said Michael Lawrence, Reuters Managing Editor for Europe, Middle East and Africa.

"Reuters calls on the U.S. government to conduct a full and objective investigation into the death of Waleed Khaled."

The report by a former British military investigator working for The Risk Advisory Group (TRAG) said soldiers had fired from a rooftop at Khaled, 33, and cameraman Haider Kadhem, 23, as they sat in a stationary car while Kadhem filmed the aftermath of an attack on a police patrol through the windscreen.

They went on firing as Khaled, to show he posed no threat, reversed the car. Witnesses and ballistic evidence indicated that some of the 18 bullets to hit the car had been fired after it came to a halt.

The soldiers said they thought Kadhem’s palm-held camera might have been a grenade launcher, but were not sure.

TRAG said that, at that distance, the soldiers could not have seen what Kadhem was holding, and so could not justify opening fire under U.S. rules of engagement: "(It) was prima facie unlawful."

I really hate it when people mistake my palm-held camera for a grenade launcher. It's a miracle that I'm still alive. Oh, wait, I'm a white woman.

-Desi

Wednesday Monkey Blogging

Free Iraq

71 Percent of the free, democratic nation of Iraq want the US occupation to end within a year.

Who wouldn't oblige, except for maybe a dictator?

-Desi

"Bush Out"

A protester offers his feelings of the president to Capitol Hill workers Tuesday.

[Photo by Douglas Graham/Roll Call]

Iraq: The Misunderstood War?

Nothing a good PR firm and a contract for $6.2 million can't fix, eh?

Imbeciles.

-Desi

Commas

09/26/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualties
Pfc. Kenneth E Kincaid, IV, 25, of Lilburn, Ga.....died in Riyadh, Iraq, on Sept. 23, of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during combat operations...from the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment...
09/26/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualties
Sgt. Velton Locklear, III, 29, of Lacey, Wash....died in Riyadh, Iraq, on Sept. 23, of injuries suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near their HMMWV during combat operations...from the 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment...
09/26/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Staff Sgt. Carlos Dominguez, 57, of Savannah, Ga., died of injuries suffered in Taji, Iraq, on Sept.23, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Dominguez was assigned to the 414th Civil Affairs Battalion...
09/26/06 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Spc. Windell J. Simmons, 20, of Hopkinsville, Ky., died of injuries suffered in Taji, Iraq, on Sept.23, when an improvised explosive device detonated near his HMMWV during combat operations. Simmons was assigned to the 3rd Battalion...
09/26/06 abqjournal: Grants Grad Wounded in Iraq
Army Pfc. Michael Brown...was critically wounded Saturday when a roadside bomb hit the Humvee Brown was riding in on patrol in South Baghdad...he is in critical condition with 25-30 percent burns to his body and throat, his father said.
09/26/06 MarbleheadReporter: Marblehead soldier wounded in Iraq
Sgt. Thomas Slavin was wounded Aug. 23 when the Humvee he had been traveling in hit an improvised explosive device south of Baghdad. The driver of the Humvee was killed, and another soldier traveling in the vehicle was injured.
09/26/06 TimesHerald: Port Huron soldier wounded in Iraq battle
D.J. Palm, 20, was in eastern Baghdad helping another soldier who had shrapnel in his leg when he was shot in the shoulder, said his mother, Stephanie Lopiccolo of Macomb Township.
09/26/06 herald-mail: Hagerstown Marine wounded in Iraq
19-year-old Lance Cpl. Jonathan Breehl had been wounded in Habbaniyah, Iraq...the Marine suffered injuries to his right wrist and left thigh when shrapnel from a remote-controlled improvised explosive device struck him Thursday morning.
09/26/06 freedomenc: Kinston native wounded in Iraq
Staff Sgt. Nicholas Bright...suffered a broken leg and burns caused by the explosion and flying debris. He was transported to a hospital in Germany after the bombing, where he will finish out his recovery
09/26/06 enidnews: Son of Nash couple wounded in Iraq, awarded Purple Heart
U.S. Marine Cpl. Aaron Pace had only been in Iraq a few weeks when he called his mother...Pace was off base at the time of his injury. He was hit in the head by shrapnel during a mortar attack.
09/26/06 svsu: Student recalls military service in Iraq
Ben Lanning pins on the Purple Heart he received in Iraq after the truck he was riding in hit a roadside bomb. The Purple Heart is awarded to those wounded or killed while serving in the U.S. Military.
09/26/06 AP: Shiite militia suspected in attacks on Sunnis in Baghdad
Gunmen assaulted two Sunni mosques and sprayed bullets into Sunni homes in a mixed neighborhood Tuesday in sectarian violence that killed three people and wounded 15, many of them attackers suspected of being followers of a radical Shiite cleric.
09/26/06 AP: 23 bodies found dumped in streets
On the eastern side of the city, meanwhile, the bodies of 23 men were found dumped in streets, all with bullet wounds and most showing signs of torture — hallmarks of sectarian killings that have raged since a Shiite shrine was bombed in Samarra...
09/26/06 CNN: Car bomb targets Iraq's Communists
A car bombing outside Communist Party headquarters in Baghdad killed four civilians, one of several attacks Tuesday that left 18 people dead across Iraq.
09/26/06 chattanoogan: Iraq War Veteran Biggs Seriously Hurt
Sgt. Adam Biggs, who also is a veteran of the fighting in Iraq, is in the Surgical Intensive Care unit of Erlanger Medical Center, according to Gunnery Sgt. Michael D. Hamby of the local Marine Reserve Center.
09/26/06 Reuters: Body found in Baiji
Police found the corpse of a man in the oil refinery city of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: 12 corpses found in Mahmudiya
Police found the corpses of 12 people, bound and shot dead, during the last 24 hours in Mahmudiya, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Roadside bomb kills 1, wounds 5 in Latifiya
A roadside bomb exploded near a car carrying employees of the Finance Ministry, killing one and wounding five, in the small town of Latifiya, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Violence in Baquba wounds 2 policemen, 4 others killed
A roadside bomb wounded two policemen in the religiously mixed city of Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, police said...Gunmen killed four men in two districts of Baquba, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Civilian killed in clashes between gunmen and police
Clashes erupted between gunmen and police, killing a civilian and wounding three policemen in Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, a source in the hospital said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Car bombs kill civilian, wound 7 others in Kirkuk
A car bomb near a fuel station killed a man and wounded six others in Kirkuk, police said. The target of the explosion was not clear. A car bomb near a church targeting a police patrol wounded a policeman in Kirkuk, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Five headless bodies found in Suwayra
Police found the headless bodies of five people in Suwayra, 40 km (25 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Bomb attached to booby-trapped body wounds 4 policemen
A bomb attached to a booby-trapped body exploded, wounding four policemen in the southern Doura district of Baghdad, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Five bodies found in Baghdad
The bodies of five people, shot in the head and bearing signs of torture, were found in different areas of Baghdad, a source in the Interior Ministry said. Two of the bodies were found in the mostly Shi'ite district of Bayaa, southern Baghdad.
09/26/06 Reuters: Gunmen kidnap mayor of Baghdad's al-Zuhour district
Gunmen kidnapped Abdul Kareem al-Talgani, the mayor of al-Zuhour district on the northern outskirts of Baghdad, and wounded three of his bodyguards, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Car bomb kills 3, wounds 21 in Baghdad
Three civilians were killed and 21 wounded, including 12 policemen, when a car bomb and a roadside bomb exploded in quick succession in eastern Zayouna district of Baghdad, a source in the Interior Ministry said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Motorcycle bomb kills 4 in central Baghdad
A motorcycle exploded near restaurants in al-Andalus square in central Baghdad, killing four people and wounding 18, a source in the Interior Ministry said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Body of Iraqi soldier found in Diwaniya
The body of an Iraqi soldier was found riddled with bullets in the Shi'ite city of Diwaniya, 180 km (115 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.
09/26/06 Reuters: Car bomb kills policeman in Kirkut
A car bomb targeting a police patrol exploded in central Kirkuk, 250 km (155 miles) north of Baghdad, killing one policeman and wounding three others, police said.
09/26/06 AP: Bomb explosion in Mahmoudiya kills 5
An Iraqi woman reacts after seeing the damage done to her house, after a bomb explosion, in Mahmoudiya, 30 kilometers (20 miles) south of Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2006. Five civilian were killed, 11 wounded
09/26/06 NPR: Talabani Warns Iraq's Neighbors Against Interfering
Jalal Talabani is president of Iraq, a country that many of his fellow Kurds don't believe in. The autonomy of the Kurdish region in northern Iraq is making it harder to resist demands for other autonomous regions in Iraq...
09/26/06 BBC: Iraq MPs row over federalism bill
There have been angry exchanges in Iraq's parliament as it began discussing a draft law on federalism. Some MPs objected angrily to a map drawn up by Kurds in northern Iraq, which showed the disputed city of Kirkuk as part of the Kurdish area.
09/26/06 AP: Injured soldier gives school flag that flew over Iraq
Maj. Greg Holden...suffered leg injuries on March 23, 2003, during a a grenade and rifle attack that killed two officers and wounded 14 soldiers in Kuwait...Holden has returned to Iraq, specializing in intelligence.
09/26/06 MNF: Iraqi Police Capture Two Suspects of Attacks on Iraqi Citizens
Iraqi Police, teamed with coalition advisers, captured two individuals suspected of promoting sectarian violence by kidnapping and murdering Iraqi citizens during a raid in Ghazaliyah on Sep. 25.
09/26/06 MNF: 8 Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers wounded
The recently constructed Jurf As Sakhr police station in the northern Babil province was damaged at approximately 7:30 a.m. Monday...Eight Multi-National Division – Baghdad Soldiers on guard duty were wounded, treated for minor injuries



-Desi

Bob Dylan: When the Deal Goes Down

Modern Times

-Desi

Saving Strength

An Indonesian Muslim woman takes a nap at a mosque in Jakarta during the first day of Muslim's holy month of Ramadan. (AFP/Jewel Samad)

Read the Book

Against All Enemies: Inside America's War on Terror

If you haven't read it yet, pick up a copy -- or better yet -- pick up a copy for a confused repub.

-Desi

Document the atrocities

The attacks on Sunni targets began when the al-Ashra al-Mushara mosque in al-Amel district was stormed about 4:30 p.m. by gunmen in black uniforms, which are often associated with the Mahdi Army militia loyal to anti-U.S. Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr. Two passers-by were wounded.

About 15 minutes later, black-clad gunmen attacked Sunni homes in the same western neighborhood. Residents fought back, wounding five of the militants, while three civilians and a police officer were also injured, police Lt. Maithem Abdul Razzaq said.

The wounded attackers were captured and identified as Mahdi Army members, Razzaq said.

Three gunmen died in an attack on the Sunnis' al-Kheyr mosque in Khadra, another western neighborhood, police said. No other details were released.

On the eastern side of the city, meanwhile, the bodies of 23 men were found dumped in streets, all with bullet wounds and most showing signs of torture — hallmarks of sectarian killings that have raged since a Shiite shrine was bombed in Samarra last February.

The bloodshed came as U.S. and Iraqi troops finished two weeks of building-by-building sweeps in Shaab and Ur, north Baghdad neighborhoods that have been strong supporters of al-Sadr.



Civil war? Draw your own conclusions.

-Desi

Caption this.

Stay Tuned

RawStory to post Clinton-era docs on al Qaida given to Bush;
Show Rice claims about plan to be false... Developing...

Of course, we knew the Rice claims were false as she's such a proven liar, but it's always nice to have to documents there to wave in their face.

-Desi

Update: Here it is.

More Democracy

Relatives and patients wait at the Yarmouk hospital, after an indefinite strike called by the doctors at the hospital, in Baghdad, Iraq, Tuesday Sept. 26, 2006. Doctors of Yarmouk hospital went on an indefinite strike, after Iraqi police commandos beat up one of the doctors, because they were taking time to treat one of their bleeding colleagues. Later that colleague was treated and saved. Doctors said that the strike will continue until Iraqi ministry of Defense takes action against Iraqi police commandos, according to police at the hospital. (AP Photo/Khalid Mohammed)

CondiLiesALot

NEW YORK - Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice challenged former President Clinton's claim that he did more than many of his conservative critics to pursue al-Qaida, saying in an interview published Tuesday that the Bush administration aggressively pursued the group even before the 9/11 attacks.

"What we did in the eight months was at least as aggressive as what the Clinton administration did in the preceding years," Rice said during a meeting with editors and reporters at the New York Post.

The newspaper published her comments after Clinton appeared on "Fox News Sunday" in a combative interview in which he defended his handling of the threat posed by Osama bin Laden and said he "worked hard" to have the al-Qaida leader killed.
Story continues below ↓ advertisement

"That's the difference in me and some, including all of the right-wingers who are attacking me now," Clinton said in the interview. "They ridiculed me for trying. They had eight months to try, they did not try."


"The notion somehow for eight months the Bush administration sat there and didn't do that is just flatly false — and I think the 9/11 commission understood that," she said.

Rice also took exception to Clinton's statement that he "left a comprehensive anti-terror strategy" for incoming officials when he left office.

"We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaida," she told the newspaper, which is owned by News Corp., the same company that owns Fox News Channel.

Here's Richard Clarke's testimony before the 9/11 commission regarding the treatment of the terrorist threat pre-9/11 by the Clinton, and the Bush administration:



Here's the White House response to Richard Clarke's claims that the Bush administration didn't consider al qaeda an urgent threat in the months prior to 9/11:



Even the August 6, 2001 pdb titled "Bin Laden determined to strike within the United States" . . . Condi goes on to claim to the 9/11 Commission that it does not warn of coming attacks within the United States.



May I just say again that I *love* Youtube. Facts and Truthiness at your fingertips with the click of a mouse.

-Desi

Bush: The Cut and Run President

Early this morning I posted about the murder of Safia Ahmed Jan as she left for her office in Kabul. In the headlines here, along with news of her death, see the headlines "One in Two Afghan women a victim of violence" and "Suicide on the rise as Taliban power increases."

* 50 per cent of Afghan women say they have been beaten, while 200 women in Kandahar ran away from domestic violence this year.

* In the past year, 150 cases of women resorting to self-immolation have been reported in western Afghanistan, 34 cases in the south-east.

* 197 women in Herat were reported to have attempted suicide last year, 69 successfully.

* 57 per cent of girls are married before the legal age of 16.

Education

* 85 per cent of women in Afghanistan are illiterate.

* The number of girls going to school in Afghanistan is half that of boys.

* 300 schools were set on fire across the country this year.

Health

* 70 per cent of tuberculosis deaths are among women.

* Death rate of mothers in labour is 60 in 1000 - (60 per cent higher than developed world).

* Only 5-7 per cent of women in Zabul and Helmand province have access to health care.

Voting

* 41 per cent of the 10.5 million registered voters are women. Women's registration rates in southern provinces were much lower than the national average: Zabul (9 per cent), Uruzgan (10 per cent) Helmand (16 per cent), and Kandahar (27 per cent)

Those are the stats on the nation we went in and occupied, and where right-wing sycophants speak of life as going 'swimmingly.' We need our Dem leaders to step up and take control of this chaos and carry out a plan for a well thought out re-deployment of troops to Afghanistan to stabilize the nation and make it's people safe. Plans for new wars have to end, and be replaced with real foreign policies geared toward respectful communication with other nations, including those we don't fully understand, perhaps especially those. Clearly, bombing first and asking questions later is not working. I'm not asking anyone to hug a terrorist. Just stop making more of them, please.

-Desi

Stick Magnetic Ribbons on your SUV

This one was sent in by reader MN. Enjoy.

-Desi

Caption this.

What if Halliburton's CEO came clean?

Ben Kweller: Sundress

"Ben Kweller"


Does he remind anyone else of (a very young) Tom Petty? Thanks to Some Dude for the tip.

-Desi

Woof

Olaf glad and Big

i sing of Olaf glad and big

whose warmest heart recoiled at war:

a conscientious object-or



his wellbelovéd colonel(trig

westpointer most succinctly bred)

took erring Olaf soon in hand;

but--though an host of overjoyed

noncoms(first knocking on the head

him)do through icy waters roll

that helplessness which others stroke

with brushes recently employed

anent this muddy toiletbowl,

while kindred intellects evoke

allegiance per blunt instruments--

Olaf(being to all intents

a corpse and wanting any rag

upon what God unto him gave)

responds,without getting annoyed

"I will not kiss your fucking flag"



straightway the silver bird looked grave

(departing hurriedly to shave)



but--though all kinds of officers

(a yearning nation's blueeyed pride)

their passive prey did kick and curse

until for wear their clarion

voices and boots were much the worse,

and egged the firstclassprivates on

his rectum wickedly to tease

by means of skilfully applied

bayonets roasted hot with heat--

Olaf(upon what were once knees)

does almost ceaselessly repeat

"there is some shit I will not eat"



our president,being of which

assertions duly notified

threw the yellowsonofabitch

into a dungeon,where he died



Christ(of His mercy infinite)

i pray to see;and Olaf,too



preponderatingly because

unless statistics lie he was

more brave than me:more blond than you.


-e.e. cummings

Call to Action

What Josh says.

-Desi

Phony Blogger?

Liberal bloggers in New Hampshire busted an aide to Rep. Charles Bass (R-N.H.) who was posing as a liberal blogger on such blogs as Blue Granite, NH-02 Progressive and others. Bass’ office admitted culpability to HOH and said the staffer would be “appropriately disciplined.”



Anyone have more on this?

-Desi

Dems lead in Ohio

COLUMBUS — A poll released Sunday found likely Ohio voters were embracing the Democratic ticket for statewide offices the party has been shut out of for at least 12 years, with the exception being attorney general, where Republican Betty Montgomery was favored.
The Columbus Dispatch poll found that Democrats Ted Strickland, the candidate for governor; Sherrod Brown, running for U.S. Senate; and down-ticket candidates Jennifer Brunner, Barbara Sykes and Richard Cordray all favored ahead of their Republican opponents.

Shucky darn, it looks like those Bush fundraisers didn't do any good this time.

-Desi

Molly Ivins

Molly has cancer. Send all the prayers and/or good vibes you can muster her way.

-Desi

Afghanistan

Things are going swimmingly.

-Desi

Is it just me, or does it seem Bush's "leadership" is imploding today? Not that this is joyful news, as we must pity the poor soul that takes on repairing this disaster.

Bush War Policy in Meltdown

WASHINGTON — The Army's top officer withheld a required 2008 budget plan from Pentagon leaders last month after protesting to Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld that the service could not maintain its current level of activity in Iraq plus its other global commitments without billions in additional funding.

The decision by Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, the Army's chief of staff, is believed to be unprecedented and signals a widespread belief within the Army that in the absence of significant troop withdrawals from Iraq, funding assumptions must be completely reworked, say current and former Pentagon officials.

"This is unusual, but hell, we're in unusual times," said a senior Pentagon official involved in the budget discussions.

Schoomaker failed to submit the budget plan by an Aug. 15 deadline. The protest followed a series of cuts in the service's funding requests by both the White House and Congress over the last four months.

According to a senior Army official involved in budget talks, Schoomaker is now seeking $138.8 billion in 2008, nearly $25 billion above budget limits originally set by Rumsfeld. The Army's budget this year is $98.2 billion, making Schoomaker's request a 41% increase over current levels.

How many times can I tell people that this administration is filled with incompetence fucking imbeciles? I'll hang in there until at least the November elections -- but, come on, people -- everyone get a grip on reality would you?

-Desi

The Other Forgotten War

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Two gunmen on motorcycles killed the provincial director of Afghanistan's Ministry of Women's Affairs outside her home in the southern city of Kandahar on Monday, officials said.

Safia Ahmed Jan was killed as she left for her office, said Tawfiq ul-Ulhakim Parant, senior adviser to the women's ministry in Kabul.

Why did Bush cut and run from Afghanistan?

-Desi

Generals Blast Administration, Repub attempts to counter Futile

WASHINGTON -- Retired military officers on Monday bluntly accused Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld of bungling the war in Iraq, saying U.S. troops were sent to fight without the best equipment and that critical facts were hidden from the public.

"I believe that Secretary Rumsfeld and others in the administration did not tell the American people the truth for fear of losing support for the war in Iraq," retired Maj. Gen. John R. S. Batiste said in remarks prepared for a hearing by the Senate Democratic Policy Committee.

A second witness, retired Maj. Gen. Paul Eaton, assessed Rumsfeld as "incompetent strategically, operationally and tactically ...."

"Mr. Rumsfeld and his immediate team must be replaced or we will see two more years of extraordinarily bad decision-making," he added in testimony prepared for the hearing, held six weeks before the Nov. 7 midterm elections in which the war is a central issue.

The conflict, now in its fourth year, has claimed the lives of more than 2,600 American troops and cost more than $300 billion.

Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., the committee chairman, told reporters last week that he hoped the hearing would shed light on the planning and conduct of the war. He said majority Republicans had failed to conduct hearings on the issue, adding, "if they won't ... we will."

Since he spoke, a government-produced National Intelligence Estimate became public that concluded the war has helped create a new generation of Islamic radicalism and that the overall terrorist threat has grown since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Several members of the Senate Democratic leadership were expected to participate in the hearing. Dorgan said Republican lawmakers had been invited.

Even before the session convened, Republicans counter-attacked.

"Today's stunt may rile up the liberal base, but it won't kill a single terrorist or prevent a single attack," Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said in a statement. He called Rumsfeld an "excellent secretary of defense."

It is unusual for retired military officers to criticize the Pentagon while military operations are under way, particularly at a public event likely to draw widespread media attention.

But Batiste, Eaton and retired Col. Paul X. Hammes were unsparing in remarks that suggested deep anger at the way the military had been treated. All three served in Iraq, and Batiste also was senior military assistant to then-Deputy Secretary of Defense Paul Wolfowitz.

Batiste, who commanded the Army's 1st Infantry Division in Iraq, also blamed Congress for failing to ask "the tough questions."

He said Rumsfeld at one point threatened to fire the next person who mentioned the need for a postwar plan in Iraq.

Batiste said if full consideration had been given to the requirements for war, it's likely the U.S. would have kept its focus on Afghanistan, "not fueled Islamic fundamentalism across the globe, and not created more enemies than there were insurgents."

Hammes said in his prepared remarks that not providing the best equipment was a "serious moral failure on the part of our leadership."

The United States "did not ask our soldiers to invade France in 1944 with the same armor they trained on in 1941. Why are we asking our soldiers and Marines to use the same armor we found was insufficient in 2003," he asked.

Hammes was responsible for establishing bases for the Iraqi armed forces. He served in Iraq in 2004 and is now Marine Senior Military Fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies, National Defense University.

Eaton was responsible for training the Iraqi military and later for rebuilding the Iraqi police force.

He said planning for the postwar period was "amateurish at best, incompetent a better descriptor."


Republican Senators(sans Joe Lieberman who was busy on the campaign trail still trying to convince CT voters that he knows better than they do what's best for them) then gathered to build spitballs on the Hill lawn, while Karl Rove frantically phoned around the capitol for someone to build a bigger, better swift boat.

-Desi

Sock Puppet Theater

WASHINGTON (AFP) - Iraqi President Jalal Talabani asked for a long-term US military presence in
Iraq, in an interview, saying his country will need two permanent US air bases to deter "foreign interference".

He did not elaborate on the nature of the threat, but his remarks contained an indication he had in mind neighboring
Iran.

"I think we will be in need of American forces for a long time -- even two military bases to prevent foreign interference," Talabani told The Washington Post. "I don't ask to have 100,000 American soldiers -- 10,000 soldiers and two air bases would be enough."

I'm certain Bush will get right on issuing a check to Halliburton with your grandchilren's children's future tax monies for the contracts to build thes bases post haste. Because that's just the kind of guy he is. Then the presence of these military bases can inflame the situation in the middle east by their very existence for decades to come, thus spreading the war dollars around to the super rich and their offspring for decades to come. Mmm, smell the democracy.

-Desi

War is good for absolutely nothin'.

George H.W. Bush wrote an angst-ridden letter to his children before the Gulf War: "I guess what I want you to know as a father is this: Every Human life is precious. When the question is asked 'How many lives are you willing to sacrifice' -- it tears at my heart. The answer, of course, is none -- none at all." He did not sleep well before the bombing began and prayed that an Iraqi child shown on television would not be hit. "There's no way to describe the pressure," he said in a diary entry, later published in a volume of personal correspondence. "I've been plagued with the image of body bags."


Did Junior read this letter, or did he roll it up and use it to snort some coke?

-Desi

Wait!

We havn't had a chance to have Karl spin it yet!

-Desi

It's past time for Bush to start visitng the funerals of some of the 'commas'

Yes, the commas. Bush with Wolfie today:

BLITZER: Let's move on and talk a little bit about Iraq. Because this is a huge, huge issue, as you know, for the American public, a lot of concern that perhaps they are on the verge of a civil war, if not already a civil war…. We see these horrible bodies showing up, tortured, mutilation. The Shia and the Sunni, the Iranians apparently having a negative role. Of course, al Qaeda in Iraq is still operating.

BUSH: Yes, you see — you see it on TV, and that's the power of an enemy that is willing to kill innocent people. But there's also an unbelievable will and resiliency by the Iraqi people…. Admittedly, it seems like a decade ago. I like to tell people when the final history is written on Iraq, it will look like just a comma because there is — my point is, there's a strong will for democracy. (emphasis added)

John @ Crooks and Liars has the video.

-Desi

Barenaked Ladies: Get in Line

Barenaked Ladies Disc One: All Their Greatest Hits 1991-2001

-Desi

One of my favorite Bush administration moments.

Gulags

What nation's interrogation/detention methods are described below?

"They recount late-night roundups of civilians and describe prisoners held in chambers of extreme heat or cold, chained naked to the floor without food and water for days on end, defecating on themselves, beaten (some to death), forced to dance, to lick their shoes and body parts, to crawl around, and to bark like dogs. ***** doctors and psychiatrists helped devise methods of inflicting pain and fear to elicit confessions, and they signed false reports when detainees died in custody."


Read the Harper's interview with historian Kate Brown for the answer.

-Desi

In Living Color

WSJ:


In an administration that prides itself on viewing the world in black and white, White House press secretary Tony Snow is injecting a lot of color.

Five months into the job, the former Fox News pundit is using his wardrobe to communicate that he's not the stereotypical press secretary.

With few exceptions, such as the late Pierre Salinger in the 1960s and Ron Nessen in the 1970s, they've worn nondescript clothes. President Bush's first press secretary, Ari Fleischer, who notes that he is colorblind, says his wife dressed him, picking conservative clothes and staying away from things like vertical stripes that look bad on TV. "Press secretaries have tended to come out of either newspaper reporting or political public relations," says presidential historian Stephen Hess, who teaches at George Washington University. "Neither of those occupations would be noted for classy haberdashery."

Mr. Snow mixes things up, with colors that often seem to reflect the administration's mood. Discussing Syria recently, he wore a serious white shirt and maroon tie. When the president gave an upbeat press conference in the Rose Garden after a surprise visit to Iraq, Mr. Snow wore a cheery pink shirt and light blue tie.

Tony Snow, White House window dressing. BWAHAAHAAhahahaha!

-Desi

They've already decided . . .

More troops on the ground.

-Desi

Caption this.

Clinton setting the record straight.

I guess I'd forgotten how powerful a presence Bill Clinton is on camera. Despite Fox News' attempt to spin this before the viewing, Chris Wallace looks like a little kid with his hand caught in the cookie jar. Clinton very calmly sets the record straight point by point. It's absolutely awesome. Here it is, via Think Progress.

-Desi